Not King for a Day: Celtics Dominate LeBron James and Cavs

"I thought they had great game plan Game 1; he was the start of it", he said. Brad Stevens continues to emphasize his theory that you don't have to win every game, but it's necessary to grow and get better from every game.

Brad Stevens expects the Boston Celtics to face a different LeBron James in Game 2. I've been down before.

Chances are LeBron is going to be much more aggressive on Tuesday night, and we won't see him deferring to teammates and loafing on defense.

"You saw that one possession where he swung it to me, I hit Channing [Frye], Channing swung it to him, he pump-faked Myles Turner, looked off Paul George, and laid it up". "We have to come ready to play from start to finish", said Brown.

Cleveland trimmed the Celtics' 26-point halftime lead to 14 by the end of the third quarter, but a 7-0 spurt to begin the final frame effectively sealed Boston's blowout win.

"Personally, I think I'm probably the best guy defending him in the league, outside of Kawhi [Leonard]", Morris said. We come back down, missed another shot. We're young, but we know exactly who we're playing, we know exactly what's at stake, and we know exactly what's on the other side of that fence.

Stevens' point, that sometimes it's beneficial to go into a series against a veteran group like the Cavaliers without the emotional luggage and memory of an older team, gains clarity with each game. The Cavs made just 36 percent of their shots, were outrebounded (48-40) and surrendered 60 points in the paint.

Following the Cavs' 108-83 loss in Game 1, Lue hardly hid his hand regarding potential adjustments for his team. "They did a great job of communicating the whole game". We have a lot of film to look at how they were making us uncomfortable. "I was out of my rhythm the whole game". James was hearing the chorus of critics calling him out for a subpar performance in the 2011 NBA Finals against the Mavericks.

While he usually plays much better at home than on the road, Rozier was a bit of a no-show in Game 1. "So for them to see that, and have that feeling like we did tonight, is huge". "That's what makes him one of the greatest of all time".

Talented 20-something players Tatum, Rozier and Brown have filled the void left by injured stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, combining with Horford - who has been eliminated by James four times in the playoffs - to out-hustle and dominate.

"Our young guys are special".

"Everybody is looking at it as an opportunity, with nothing to lose", said Morris. Defense is always a collective effort for the Celtics, but Morris outscored and out rebounded James as his primary defender, and that might be the most impressive performance of these playoffs.

Boston would take a 78-64 lead into the final quarter with the Cavaliers having scored six straight points. We've got to clean those up. We've got to be more decisive.